A former Birmingham police officer arrested more than four years ago on allegations he sexually abused a child and raped an adult woman has been sentenced to serve six months in the Shelby County Jail.

Joshua Herbinger, now 33, surrendered to the jail on Tuesday to begin serving his sentence. He pleaded guilty last week to one count of attempted sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old and one count of first-degree rape.

Herbinger, a former crime scene technician, was first arrested in October 2014 and charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney at the time said the young female victim reported the abuse to the School Resource Officer at her school and police immediately launched their investigation which led to the felony warrants against him.

The chief said the victim was not related to Herbinger. The abuse, police said, is reported to have happened over the two to three years before his arrest.

About two weeks later, Herbinger, of Pleasant Grove, was arrested again, this time on the first-degree rape charge. Rigney said at the time that the victim was not in any kind of domestic relationship with the officer.

He was fired from the Birmingham Police Department shortly after his arrests.

As part of his plea, the other child sex abuse charges were dismissed with conditions. He is required to register as a sex offender and avoid contact with the victims and their families.

On the rape charge, Shelby County Circuit Judge William H. Bostick sentenced Herbinger to 10 years in prison with six months to serve in the jail. On the child sex abuse charge, Herbinger was sentenced to 60 months in prison with six months to serve in the county jail. He is to serve the two sentences concurrently.

The remainder of the prison sentences will be suspended as long as Herbinger does not violate the terms of the plea agreement.

Court records stated the victims and their families were in agreement with the terms of the plea agreement.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.